Tests of hypotheses based on ranks in the general linear model

A unified approach is developed for testing hypotheses in the general linear model based on the ranks of the residuals. It complements the nonparametric estimation procedures recently reported in the literature. The testing and estimation procedures together provide a robust alternative to least squares. The methods are similar in spirit to least squares so that results are simple to interpret. Hypotheses concerning a subset of specified parameters can be tested, while the remaining parameters are treated as nuisance parameters. Asymptotically, the test statistic is shown to have a chi-square distribution under the null hypothesis. This result is then extended to cover a sequence of contiguous alternatives from which the Pitman efficacy is derived. The general application of the test requires the consistent estimation of a functional of the underlying distribution and one such estimate is furnished.     

Parental Identity and Reflected‐Appraisals: Measurement and Gender Dynamics

A new theoretical model for parental identity, reflected‐appraisals, and behavior was proposed. Parental identity and behavior in married parents were then investigated as a function of partner's and perceived reflected‐appraisals, taking into account gender context effects. Sixty‐four married couples completed the Caregiving and Breadwinning Identity and Reflected‐Appraisal Inventory (CBIRAI), developed for this study to assess parental caregiving and breadwinning identity and reflected‐appraisals, as well as caregiving and breadwinning behavior measures. The model was confirmed for fathers and partially confirmed for mothers. Specifically, caregiving identity and behavior in fathers, and breadwinning identity in mothers were functions of perceived reflected‐appraisals. Limitations and implications are discussed.     

Employee exposure to coworker substance use and negative consequences: the moderating effects of work group membership.

The current study assesses: (1) whether the relationship between individual exposure to coworker substance use and negative consequences resulting from exposure depends on work group membership, and (2) whether group-level characteristics moderate the relationship between exposure and consequences. At the group-level, we assessed occupations involving safety risk or high mobility and social factors of drinking climate and group cohesiveness. We conducted Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) across two samples of municipal employees (ns = 650, 878; n of groups = 50, 49). Our results revealed that groups with higher proportions of jobs involving risk (e.g., machine work) and, to a lesser extent, groups with a higher level of drinking climate were those most vulnerable to consequences under conditions of exposure. Importantly, our findings controlled for individual risk factors (e.g., personal drinking, job stress). Our discussion examines the implications of this study for theory and policy related to workplace substance abuse.     

The social and demographic impact of the Southeast Asian Crisis of 1997–99

When an unexpected financial crisis overtook Southeast Asia in 1997 planners and policymakers feared that the economic difficulties would unwind two decades of remarkable economic and social development. Newspaper headlines spoke of massive increases in poverty, unemployment and malnutrition, and it was speculated that family planning programs would collapse and fertility would rise dramatically. Infant and child mortality and maternal mortality were also expected to increase. This paper briefly reviews the onset of the financial crisis as a background for assessing whether speculations about die demographic and social effects tallied with reality. It is found that these effects were neither as dramatic nor as easy to monitor as some of the public debate implied. The general lesson is that the most serious social and demographic problems were not so much the products of crisis as embedded in chronic weaknesses that had become entrenched in times of economic growth. The crisis exposed these weaknesses.     

The association between job skill discretion, decision authority and burnout

This paper reports on the relationship between dimensions of control (skill discretion and decision authority) and burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment) among 164 human service workers. It examines the differential influence of job demands, control (skill discretion and decision authority) and social support (supervisor, co-workers, others) on each burnout dimension. Then it examines the moderating effects of higher skill discretion, higher decision authority, and higher social support on burnout. Low skill discretion was found to be associated with high emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and low personal accomplishment. The effects of decision authority were not statistically significant. High job demands were associated with high emotional exhaustion only. Social support (supervisor, co-worker, and others) was not associated with burnout when demographic variables and job characteristics were controlled for. Neither dimension of control moderated the impact of high job demands on burnout. Social support did not moderate the impact of high demands, low skill discretion, or low decision authority on any burnout dimension. The full model explained 44% of the variance in emotional exhaustion, 25% in depersonalization, and 42% in personal accomplishment. Despite its limitations, the study suggests that the Job Demand-Control model may provide a useful theoretical foundation for the study of burnout, but that the control dimensions need to be evaluated independently since they appear to be differentially related to the burnout dimensions.     

Street Youth Labour Market Experiences and Crime*

Dans le cadre de notre recherche, nous étudions la façon dont les expériences dans le marché du travail des jeunes sans‐abri et l'inter‐prétation qu'ils font du chômage sont liées à leur comportement criminel. À partir d'entretiens réalisés auprès d'un échantillon de 200 jeunes homines vivant dans la rue, les données recueillies indiquent que ces jeunes se sentent exclus du marché du travail du fait des expériences négatives qu'ils ont vécues. Ce phénomène est exacerbé par le chômage à long terme, qui détruit la motivation et conduit les jeunes à rechercher d'autres exutoires matériels. En outre, les jeunes en viennent à considérer le système social comme injuste et se sen‐tent inaptes à l'emploi, ce qui augmente le risque qu'ils participent à des activités criminelles. Les jeunes qui restent lies à la société tradi‐tionnelle et continuent de croire à l'idéologie dominante du mérite réagissent par la dépression ou la culpabilité menant à une fuite passive et favorisant le comportement criminel. En revanche, les jeunes qui refusent l'idéologie font étant d'un affect négatif minimal et met‐tent en valeur la supérioritý matérielle et sociale qu'ils accordent aux activités criminelles par rapport à l'emploi qu'ils ont pu occuper avant et qui leur était offert. Les conclusions de cet article s'appuient sur les théories de la contrainte, du contrôle et de la sous‐culture. The research explores how homeless street youths' labour market experiences and interpretations of unemployment are linked to criminal behavior. Using interviews with a sample of 200 male street youth, the data suggest that these youths become alienated from the labour market because of negative experiences in their jobs. This is exacerbated by long‐term unemployment that destroys motivation and leaves the youths looking for other material opportunities. Further, the youths come to see the social system as unfair and themselves as unemployable, making it more likely they will become involved in criminal activities. Those youths who remain bonded to the conventional society and continue to believe in the dominant meritocratic ideology respond with depression and guilt, which lead to a passive withdrawal and inhibit criminal behavior. In contrast, those youth who dismiss the ideology display minimal negative affect and reveal that criminal activities are superior both materially and socially to previous and available employment. Findings are discussed in terms of strain, control and subcultural theories.     

Accountability and the Camera Perspective Bias in Videotaped Confessions

Prior research indicates that altering the perspective from which a videotaped confession is recorded influences assessments of the confession's voluntariness. The present study examined whether increasing decision makers' sense of accountability attenuates this biasing effect of camera perspective. Participants in a high-accountability (but not a low-accountability) condition were told that they would have to justify their judgments concerning the voluntary status of a video-taped confession to a trial judge. Although supplementary measures indicated that high-accountability participants processed information contained in the video-taped confession more carefully and thoroughly, the camera perspective bias persisted. This result adds to a growing body of work indicating that the criminal justice system needs to be seriously concerned with how it acquires and utilizes videotaped confession evidence.     

Property Loss Estimation for Wind and Earthquake Perils

This article describes the development of a generic loss assessment methodology, which is applicable to earthquake and windstorm perils worldwide. The latest information regarding hazard estimation is first integrated with the parameters that best describe the intensity of the action of both windstorms and earthquakes on building structures, for events with defined average return periods or recurrence intervals. The subsequent evaluation of building vulnerability (damageability) under the action of both earthquake and windstorm loadings utilizes information on damage and loss from past events, along with an assessment of the key building properties (including age and quality of design and construction), to assess information about the ability of buildings to withstand such loadings and hence to assign a building type to the particular risk or portfolio of risks. This predicted damage information is then translated into risk-specific mathematical vulnerability functions, which enable numerical evaluation of the probability of building damage arising at various defined levels. By assigning cost factors to the defined damage levels, the associated computation of total loss at a given level of hazard may be achieved. This developed methodology is universal in the sense that it may be applied successfully to buildings situated in a variety of earthquake and windstorm environments, ranging from very low to extreme levels of hazard. As a loss prediction tool, it enables accurate estimation of losses from potential scenario events linked to defined return periods and, hence, can greatly assist risk assessment and planning.